


With you, I'm stronger

by orphan_account



Category: British Actor RPF, The Witcher (TV) RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Kissing, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, The Amazing Devil's instagram account made me do it, something sweet to soothe our souls during quarantine, tea is the nectar of the gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:36:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23611444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Inspired by the photo posted on February 27th on The Amazing Devil's Instagram.The Horror and the Wild had its deadline in two days, and Joey would be damned if they missed it. There were quite a few things he was ready to sacrifice to finish the album on time, including sleeping in his own bed and chatting for hours with his boyfriend.
Relationships: Joey Batey & Madeleine Hyland, Joey Batey/Henry Cavill
Comments: 11
Kudos: 58





	With you, I'm stronger

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characterisation of people who appear in this work is based on interviews and other public information. I do not know Joey, Madeleine or Henry personally and this is meant for fans only. If you appear in this work of fiction, please do not read further.
> 
> And if you're still here, Joey, then you only have yourself to blame.
> 
> [Photo](https://www.instagram.com/p/B9EUL7UnkCt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) that caused this fic to happen.

The Horror and the Wild had its deadline in two days, and Joey would be damned if they missed it. There were quite a few things he was ready to sacrifice to finish the album on time, including sleeping in his own bed and chatting for hours with his boyfriend. Especially when said boyfriend was currently abroad and busy doing who-knows-what in preparation for the next season of the Witcher. Recording the album had been a great team effort, and Joey had enjoyed the whole creative process behind it. Now it was just him and Madeleine left at the studio, doing touch ups and questioning the whole album’s existence as proper artists should do.

Joey had pressed himself further than was healthy during the last few days and he knew it. The lack of sleep had exhausted him to the point that he felt cold all the time, but he’d just thrown on a jacket and continued working with the help of pure spite and hourly cups of assorted hot, caffeinated beverages. His fingers constantly resembled frozen icicles by now, and he rubbed his hands together to try to warm them up whenever it got too bad. Bad blood circulation was a pain he knew he shared with other musicians who were too involved with a project to stop and take proper breaks. On top of it all, Madeleine had told him he had begun hallucinating due to sleep deprivation. Joey had decided to ignore it, as he was sure he had read somewhere that auditory illusions were the least worrisome of hallucinations. Besides, he had only heard them a few times when being extremely focused on getting the mixing right.

Henry would have made him take regular breaks and reminded him of the value of taking naps, but the man was not even in the UK right now and Madeleine was just as bad as he was at remembering to pause when they got lost in the process. Henry being abroad had been one of the main reasons why Joey had bunkered up in the studio even if Madeleine had assured him that he did not need to. There was nothing at home except silence and a bed that felt lonely now that there was nobody there to share it with. Joey was always busy in the studio, finding some small detail in tracks to fiddle with and adjust so it would sound _ just so _. It was easy to lose track of time in the studio as well, the place existing in some sort of alternate plane of existence where all that mattered was making the album exactly to his liking together with partner-in-crime and music. As long as he kept himself busy and distracted, then there would be no time to miss Henry or Kal.

Joey finished the last touches in the mixing, and with one last click he saved the final version of the track. He sighed in relief. That last click took out even the last drop of energy he had and he suddenly could sense just how tired he was. He sunk down in the chair, his spite levels finally spent as he realised they were done now. A tired giggle escaped his lips as the situation dawned upon him. Their album was done.

‘Just do that pouty thing, alright,’ Madeleine instructed when they had both calmed down from the sudden case of absurd giggles. She backed away from the mixing board to take a photo, commemorating the milestone. ‘You’ll look absolutely miserable, but endearing.’

‘How anyone could look endearing after not sleeping for three days is a mystery to me,’ Joey said but did as he was told. He was tired and cold, and not in the mood to mess around tonight.

‘Your boyfriend definitely thinks you do,’ Madeleine, waving her free hand as she chose a filter for the photo. Joey might feel like absolute shit, but his cute face was a dealmaker. His newfound fame was a two-edged sword, introducing new listeners to their music which then created its own type of pressure on them. ‘I’ll send you the photo so you can show it to him.’

‘It doesn’t matter if he finds it endearing or not,’ Joey pointed out. He sighed, not looking forward to going home to an empty apartment he had been actively avoiding. ‘He can’t teleport himself to my apartment, can he?’

‘It does matter because knowing he thinks you’re cute will help you sleep at night,’ Madeleine muttered, trying to find some sort of silver lining in the situation. Joey appreciated her attempts, but he was too far gone to actually be able to form any other opinion.

‘Fine, I’ll send him the photo’ Joey relented. He picked up his bag from the floor where he had left it as well as his guitar case which was leaning against the wall. ‘I am not completely sure why you take such an interest in my love life, but I am too tired to actually care.’

Madeleine looked up from her phone, turning her notifications off. The dear hearts were already commenting on the photo, cooing over how tired poor Joey was looking and quoting Witcher lines about insomnia. ‘You need to go home and have a nap now according to the dear hearts. There are several comments on the photo already telling you to do so!’

‘As your wish, captain Scarlet Scarlet,’ Joey made a mock salute to his friend as he left the studio. He would be back in the morning to listen to the tracks for a final time of course, but he had to admit that they were done. Tomorrow would be a day of celebration, but now all he wanted was to crash in his bed.

Joey’s phone buzzed, and he struggled to get it out of the pocket of his jacket. He fought the disappointment of the message not being a reply from Henry. Instead it was a notification letting him know that his uber had arrived. He tried telling himself that Henry was probably already asleep or being annoyingly healthy and going for a long walk with Kal right now. Henry would probably just reply to his message in the morning like a normal person.

There still had not been any message when the car stopped outside of his apartment, confirming Joey’s suspicion that he would not get one any time soon. Joey put his best friendly face on, smiling at the driver as he thanked them for the ride, but he had a feeling that the driver knew exactly how tired he was. ‘Sorry I wasn’t in the mood for small talk tonight.’

‘It’s alright. We can’t all be cheery all the time,’ the driver assured him before driving away.

Joey cussed under his breath as he struggled once again with his pockets, this time trying to locate his keys. He knew they were somewhere in his bag, and of course they turned up in the last pocket he checked. Somewhere out there the universe was laughing at him, but Joey was too tired to give any shits about it. But the universe apparently did give shits about Joey.

Opening the door, Joey had anticipated to be greeted by an empty and unlit apartment. He was taken by surprise when the lights in the hall were on, but there was still plausible deniability that he had just forgotten to turn the light off when leaving. He placed his bag and the guitar case on the floor, on alert as he heard sounds from the direction of the living room. ‘Hello?’

The pitter-patter of paws against the laminated floor echoed through the hall as a familiar, fluffy four-legged friend ran over to him. It was Kal, excited to be reunited with one of his favourite people in the world. Joey had not been anticipating the fully grown American Akita and almost fell to the floor when the dog jumped to greet him. Joey chuckled as he knelt down to stop Kal from jumping, and buried his hands in the thick fur to give him a proper pet and scratch him behind the ears in greeting. The bear-looking dog licked his cheek, acting like it had been years rather than weeks since they last met. ‘Hey, buddy! What are you doing here? Where’s your daddy?’

‘I would complain that Kal gets all the kisses before me, but I know how much you like him,’ Henry said, coming over to grab Kal so that Joey could take off his jacket. He had an amused grin on his face, and was dressed in the soft trousers he had left in Joey’s closet the last time he stayed over and a jumper that was big enough that Joey would probably drown in it when he inevitably ended up borrowing it. ‘Welcome home.’

‘But you weren’t supposed to be here!’ Joey protested, smiling genuinely now as he leaned across Kal to give his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips in greeting. ‘I would have left the studio earlier if I had known you were coming over. And I would have actually showered this morning and made myself look like a human rather than death warmed over.’

‘And delay the album somehow? I wouldn’t dare to disappoint any of your fans. And I count myself as one of them,’ Henry let go of Kal, who had now calmed down, and pulled Joey into a proper hug. Kal, knowing it was going to be ignored, turned around and strutted in the direction of the living room. ‘It was sort of a spur of the moment decision to come. I suddenly had a free weekend and knew I had to see you, even if you were still busy with mixing the album.’

‘You definitely won’t hear any complaints from me,’ Joey assured him, enjoying the feeling of Henry’s strong arms around him. They were around the same height, but the strenuous training Henry had to go through had given him strength Joey could never imagine of possessing, and it made Joey feel both small yet safe at the same time. He had never had male partners who made him feel like this before, and Joey had definitely grown fond of it. Joey tilted his chin up so he could kiss Henry properly. Henry’s lips felt soft under his, and what the kiss lacked in intensity it made up for in the simple relief and sweetness of being together again. ‘I’ve missed you. Terribly.’

‘Missed you too, little lark,’ Henry replied, his voice soft and warm.

Joey was going to reply something about Henry being a wolf when he was interrupted by a yawn. He found himself apologizing for the second time tonight. ‘Sorry, I’m just really tired right now and not much of a company. And I really need that shower.’

Henry hummed, a sound Geralt would be proud of. ‘Go and take a shower, then. I’ll have a cuppa ready for you when you’re done, if you want to, and we can just cuddle up. No need to keep me company.’

‘That would be great. Better than great, to be honest. I could get used to this sort of service.’ Joey was already feeling much better, knowing that Henry would be waiting for him. He gave Henry a light kiss on the cheek as they parted. This was the best sort of welcome home he could ever wish for.

Joey groaned, enjoying the feeling of hot water against his bare skin, warmth slowly entering his muscles. Yet he felt torn. If Henry had not been there, he would have probably stayed in the shower for at least half an hour but now he had a hot boyfriend waiting for him with an almost equally hot cup of tea on the other side of the door and ready to cozy up with him. In the end, his shower had probably taken around twenty minutes even as he tried to hurry up but he had to wash his hair twice before he was satisfied with it. Henry might not have Geralt’s Witcher senses, but he had confessed once that he liked the smell of Joey’s shampoo.

Joey felt like a new man when he entered the living room, wearing a clean t-shirt and a fresh pair of underwear. Henry was sitting on the couch and reading something on his phone with Kal curled up next to the couch. The TV was on, showing old reruns of QI and filling the background with the soft sound of Stephen Fry's pleasant voice. Henry and Kal both looked up when Joey walked in, and Henry moved so that Joey could fit on the couch next to him whereas Kal just lay his head back on his front paws. A cup of tea, just the way Joey liked, was left on the IKEA sofa table that had survived against all odds ever since Joey’s uni days.

‘I hope you didn’t get bored waiting for me,’ Joey said as he sat down next to Henry on the couch, cuddling up against his partner and curling his legs up against his chest to keep his feet off the cold floor. He pulled a blanket to cover his bare legs, the cool air of the apartment making the hair on his exposed legs stand up.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Henry assured him, leaning over and passing the cup of tea to Joey. ‘I saw the photo you sent me, and I had guessed you would be tired in any case.’

Joey hummed, taking a sip of the warm drink. They had not been able to sit down and just cuddle in a long time, and Joey was definitely taking advantage of the situation right now and Joey moved so he could be as close to Henry as possible. ‘I can’t wait until we’re living in the same country again. Then we can do this every night.’

‘I hope you don’t mind taking care of me when I’m the tired one after running around doing fight scenes,’ Henry said as a soft sound of laughter could be heard from the audience on the TV.

Joey closed his eyes, enjoying the serene moment. ‘I think we’ll both have opportunities to take care of each other.’

Later in the evening, when the tea was gone and not even Henry could keep his eyes open, they moved to the bedroom. Kal was already sleeping on a pillow on the floor on Henry’s side of the bed in what had become his spot at Joey’s. Joey sighed as he finally lay down in bed next to Henry, the bed no longer feeling too big or lonely. It was no surprise that sleep came easily to him for the first time since Henry had left. There was something incredibly comforting even in simply holding someone you cared for and keeping each other warm. Nothing happened that night beyond clinging to each other for dear life, but neither of them minded it. Waking up to Henry coming back from his morning run and looking like he had stepped right out from a magazine cover was definitely not a bad way to start the morning.

A day later, the Horror and the Wild was officially released and embraced by the fans. Joey, on the other hand, was being embraced by Henry after the informal release party they had with Madeleine. Then the weekend was a happy blur of mentions of wild blue yonder, hiding beneath covers, being embraced by a lover, and being lost and found in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself that I did not need to write any more RPF, yet this just happened and I have Hedwig_Dordt to thank for it. Thank you for enabling me, and for commenting on the draft.
> 
> The name of the fic, as well as the last few lines, are inspired by "Wild Blue Yonder" by The Amazing Devil. If you haven't listened to the new album yet, then I suggest you go and do it now. But before you leave, thank you for reading and please leave kudos and a review if you liked it!


End file.
